The evening was introduced by Sam Brownin a lively and lighthearted fashion. He has been a member of OVFM since he was 14 and is now Vice-Chairman. It was topped and tailed by short humorous films by John Bunce. Reg Lancaster's film about Meersburg, by Lake Constance, took viewers up the steep road to the castle, with wonderful views across the lake. This was followed by a trip to the island in the lake where the butterfly house has 80 species of tropical butterflies. The film finished with a visit to the Zeppelin Museum in Meersburg.

Basil Doody's 3-minutes was a funny fantasy about a man who discovered the secret of becoming invisible but ultimately fell off a ladder and then could not remember how to become visible again!

The history of St Christopher's Bromley over 30 years since its foundation in 1984 was a fascinating and well put together collection of interviews and information by John and Ann Epton. The charity HospisCare South Bromley was started with a donation of £10,000 from the charity fund of the Mayor of Bromley, Joan Hatcher, during her year in office 1984-85. Lord Philip Harris also gave a lot of personal and financial support over the years, culminating in the building of Caritas House. However, the burden of annual running costs eventually became unaffordable and a partner was found in St Christopher's in Sydenham. Now, with significant fundraising programmes in place, the charity continues to flourish and offer excellent end of life hospice care for local residents.

Sam Brown, Vice-Chairman

The second half of the evening was enhanced by a collection of Bromley's archive films digitised and put together in a photo album format by Footprint Productions. Scenes of Orpington from 1929 to 1950 included the wedding of Christine Spencer-May, daughter of the owner of the Commodore Cinema; Armistice Day parades; a rugby match between Orpington and Sevenoaks & Maidstone on Boxing Day 1929 at Westcombe Park, before it was sequestered by the government during WWII and subsequently became the playing fields for St Olave's School; a football match at Cray Valley Football Ground, the original home of Cray Wanderers Football Club; and the King's Jubilee parade down Orpington High Street in 1935.

Other offerings included Mike Shaw's building a miniature Titanic, which took 6 years and his clever example of stop action to create a humorous 2 minute film; a fictional story, by Altrincham Moviemakers, of a henpecked husband, with a twist at the end; Pat Palmer's film 'Remembering' her father, Harry Gregory, a survivor of the two World Wars, with a backdrop of the Tower Hill ceramic poppies; Petts Wood in the 1960s (Colin Jones) and Charlie Casely's 'The Night the News was in Pink', about the production of the Financial Times.

OVFM's film shows are a treat and well worth a viewing. There is a FREE show at All Saints on Friday 23 October 7pm - Out of Focus Film Evening (see under 'What's On')For more information about OVFM, visit the website.